Best Porting Platform for learning?

[Homer6679]

Hey Y'all,

Looking to get into the game of porting here pretty soon and was curious if any of you guys had thoughts on the best chainsaw "platform" to learn on. For instance, is a poulan 4218 better to learn on than a stihl 026? Similar to how a honda civic is cheaper to modify and learn how to work on as opposed to a bmw. Also, what saws would you guys prefer to port as opposed to other saws? For instance a stihl 026 vs 025 or husky 61 vs husky 266.

 

[thompsoncustom]

I'd say start with a cheap saw none strato that way if things turn out worse it's no big loss. Also if you use a common one like the poulan wild thing you should be able to find one cheap and a new cylinder is like 20 bucks if you mess it up.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

From what I have read and seen from some great porters on here, the 026/260 platform is great.

 

[NSEric]

Any saw that's not a clamshell is a good saw to port. You can adjust the cylinder height to get better timing and compression.
I started out porting chinese 52 and 58cc zenoah clone saws.
They're easy to gain power on and top ends are 20 bucks if you mess up or just want to experiment.

 

[drumbum]

.....a yootoob channel in the making

lol

 

[ericm979]

You can practice porting on a trashed cylinder. That way when you grind too far or slip and nick the cylinder liner you didn't ruin anything of value.

What sort of tools will you be using?

 

[Homer6679]

You can practice porting on a trashed cylinder. That way when you grind too far or slip and nick the cylinder liner you didn't ruin anything of value.

What sort of tools will you be using?

In regards to working on a trashed cylinder, how would you know if what you did was actually effective and correct?

I have a die grinder and dremel with a wide assortment of bits for each, I have a degree wheel that I printed out as well for timing the cylinder

 

[cookies]

I'd suggest starting with non running saws and learn to fully rebuild them from the crank out before trying to port. Once you get a couple fully built then pick one and port it ...there are lots of hacks on utoobe and you need to be able to weed them out before taking their advice..

 

[ericm979]

In regards to working on a trashed cylinder, how would you know if what you did was actually effective and correct?

It's for practicing grinding, not for testing the results. It's kind of tricky, especially the transfers.

I have a die grinder and dremel with a wide assortment of bits for each, I have a degree wheel that I printed out as well for timing the cylinder

I found the 1/4" die grinder way too large even for motorcycle cylinders.

Many people use cable drive hand pieces. A straight one will work for the intake and exhaust ports but for the cylinder end of the transfers an angled handpiece would be useful.

 

[Homer6679]

I'd suggest starting with non running saws and learn to fully rebuild them from the crank out before trying to port. Once you get a couple fully built then pick one and port it ...there are lots of hacks on utoobe and you need to be able to weed them out before taking their advice..

I've rebuilt a few saws and agree on learning to rebuild saws and perform regular maintenance before trying to port or do muff mods.

Who would you consider to be hacks and who to be reputable?

 

[huskihl]

Who would you consider to be hacks and who to be reputable?

That is a great question. When you learn to sort them out on your own without asking, you’ll be ready to start porting saws.

Start reading old threads and new on here and other chainsaw forums, and learn who to trust

 

[NSEric]

I find every different model of saw needs something different porting wise to get it to run it's best. If you're looking to port a certain saw look it up and dont worry about what someone did to a different saw.
Some guys on youtube just hog stuff out but doing that without getting the timing right doesnt help much on most saws.
I have the el cheapo 52/58cc china saws dialed in pretty good, I've wrecked a couple figuring them out and I can make a 266/272 better/faster than stock, I kinda copied someone else work on them and it worked out good.
The thing I wish I knew when I started porting is you dont need a high exhaust roof to get more rpm, unless it's more than 105 degrees I leave it stock height on most saws.